Data collection systems have historically been utilized for automated data capture in a variety of applications ranging from inventory management and control, route accounting, electronic exchange of product and price information, parcel delivery and invoicing. Hand-held portable data collection systems permit in field data collection for up-to-date information processing.
State of the art data collection systems incorporate high technology computer systems which have simultaneously increased in performance and decreased in size, allowing computing power previously available only in desktop sized or larger systems to be available in portable hand-held or vehicle mounted units.
The invention of the bar code bypassed manual data entry systems in favor of high speed, reliable automatic data entry. Automatic bar code reading has become the most efficient and widely utilized form of data collection in data collection systems.
Portable data collection terminals are often used in industrial environments having high levels of background noise. It is often desired to provide a feedback signal to the operator during the data collection process to communicate operational information to the operator concerning the state of the data collection process. For example, the data collection terminal may be utilized to read information and data encoded in optically readable indicia such as a bar code. During the reading process, the data terminal may provide an audible signal such as a beep or a buzz produced by a speaker integrated with the data terminal upon a successful reading operation. The data terminal may also produce visual signals such as illumination of one or more LEDs, for example.
However, audio signals produced by a speaker or similar audio transducer element integrated in a portable hand-held device are typically too weak to be heard and relied upon in a high decibel background noise environment. Loud background noises interfering with a data terminal generated audio signal may be produced by various industrial machinery e.g., trucks, forklifts, compressors, generators, refrigerators, etc. The audio signal may be further muffled and attenuated by the apparel and accessories worn by the operator, e.g., hats, hard hats, helmets, hoods, cold protection earmuffs or noise reducing earplugs or earmuffs required to be worn under OSHA regulations to protect worker ears in high ambient noise level environments. Additionally, the amount of light produced by small LEDs may be washed out by bright sources of ambient illumination especially in an outdoor environment. Often the attention of the operator is directed away from the data terminal and toward some other object or task. As a result, the visual light signals fail to attract the attention of the operator. It is therefore desirable to have a communications system integrated with a portable data terminal which provides data collection feedback information to the operator which does not suffer interference of the feedback signal from environmental conditions.